Govt forms panel to review civil services exam pattern
Panel to examine issues related to age relaxation, eligibility and syllabus of exam
New Delhi: The government has formed an expert committee, to examine various issues related to age relaxation, eligibility, syllabus and pattern of civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers.
"The committee has been formed to look into all aspects of civil services examination," Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.
Based on the report of the committee, further changes in the civil services exam pattern will be contemplated with the primary objective of providing a level-playing field to aspirants from diverse streams of curriculum like mathematics, engineering, medicine or humanities, he said.
Till such time as the recommendations of the committee are received and the government subsequently takes a decision on the same, Singh said that the General Studies Paper-II (also known as CSAT) in the civil services preliminary examination will remain a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33 per cent.
Meanwhile, the government's decision taken last year to exclude the English portion consisting of 22 marks in the General Studies Paper-II of the civil services preliminary examination from tabulation also continues to remain in force, he told PTI here.
The panel has been formed as follow-up to the decision taken by the government in May this year to form such a committee, said Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said.
The panel will be headed by former Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer B S Baswan and consist of leading academicians, technocrats and senior bureaucrats, officials said.